Control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers

ABSTRACT

A control button configuration for a guitar-shaped electronic video game machine controller situated in a neck portion of the controller. The neck having a center is connected to a headstock at a first end and a body at a second end. One set of control buttons is disposed rectilinearly in the section between the first end and the center of the neck, or an upper neck section, and another set of control buttons is rectilinearly disposed in the section between the second end and the center of the neck, or a lower neck section. The set of control buttons in the upper neck section are disposed in equal distance from one another, and the set of control buttons in the lower neck section are disposed in equal distance from one another. Two sets of the control buttons have an equal number of control buttons and perform duplicative functions. Thereby, the users have an option to play the video games with either set of the control buttons. Each of the control buttons in the lower neck section has a specific area with a minimum radius. Because playable control buttons are disposed in the entire length of the neck, the control button configuration enables the users to experience the sensations of playing rock music video games with a realistic guitar, and because the video games can be played with only the control buttons in the lower neck section, the users need not over extend their arms to reach the control buttons; therefore, this control button configuration is particularly suited for the small stature users, such as small children.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

None

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to electronic controllers for electronic video game machines and more specifically relates to control buttons configuration of the guitar-shaped electronic controllers for the electronic video game machines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the recent advent of music video games and their enormous popularity in the video game market, the electronic controllers compatible to these music video games have also transformed their shapes from traditional electronic video game controllers to the shapes that imitate the real musical instruments. In particular, with the phenomenal success of rock music video games, the guitar-shaped electronic controllers, or guitar controllers, became extremely popular among the users of rock music video games. These guitar-shaped controllers can enhance the excitement of playing the rock music video games by providing the users with the sensation of playing the rock music video games with a real guitar.

The guitar controllers are slightly smaller in size than a real electric guitar, and like the real electric guitars, the guitar controllers generally include a headstock portion, a neck portion, and a body portion. The guitar controllers further emulate a guitar by having the control buttons disposed in the neck portion, and the users would press these control buttons as if pressing a set of guitar strings between the frets in the neck of a guitar. A rectangular shaped strum bar that can move up-and-down is disposed at the body portion of the guitar controllers, and the users can simulate strumming of guitar strings by strumming, or pressing up and down on, the strum bar with their fingers. The rock music video games are generally designed so that the users must hold the guitar controller in the same manner as the user would hold a real guitar and simultaneously press the control buttons and the strum bar of the guitar controller in coordination with the objects that appear in the video game monitor in order to win points. As the game progresses to different stages of the game, the speed and the coordination required to press the correct control buttons increases; thus, the difficulty to win points for the game also increase.

Unlike the real guitars, however, where the frets are placed regularly along the entire length of the neck of the guitar, the prior art guitar controllers only have the control buttons disposed in the upper section of the neck towards the headstock portion. Thus, unlike the real guitars where the notes can be played on all parts of the neck, in prior art guitar controllers, there is no playable control buttons in the lower section of the neck. As such, the prior art guitar controllers cannot truly provide the users with the sensations of playing the rock music video games with a real guitar, including playing the hard rocking, or “jamming,” style with the guitar controllers, where most of the notes are played with the frets in the lower section of the neck that is in close proximity to the body.

Additionally, the prior art guitar controllers are not properly sized for users of small stature, such as small children or persons with shorter arm span. When playing with the prior art guitar controllers, the smaller stature users experience difficulty in reaching the control buttons than the users with a larger stature, and especially during certain stages of the game where the control buttons must be pressed at a higher speed in order to continue wining the points, the inherent difficulty in reaching the control buttons creates significant disadvantage for the smaller stature users. There is no smaller size guitar controller made just to accommodate the smaller stature users. The guitar controller manufactures are reluctant to produce several different size guitar controllers for one video game because it would obviously drive up their manufacturing and inventory costs.

Thus, there exists a need for a control button configuration in the guitar controller that enables the users to experience the playing of rock music video games with a more realistic guitar controller such as, enabling the users to play the rocking style movements, and also a need for a control button configuration that enables the users of smaller stature to effectively play the video games without experiencing disadvantage because of the stature and at the same time without the need for the manufacturers to produce several different size guitar controllers to accommodate the smaller stature users.

Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention is a control button configuration of the guitar controllers with sets of control buttons situated in the neck of a guitar controller. The control button configuration of the present invention generally includes two sets of control buttons. The first set of control buttons is disposed in the upper neck section of the guitar controller, which is the section between the center of the neck and the headstock, and the second set of control buttons is disposed in the lower neck section, which is the section between the center of the neck and the body of the guitar controller.

Each set of control buttons comprises of one or more control buttons in rectilinear configuration, and the dimensions and the distance of the control buttons with respect to each other and to the body of the guitar controller promote rapid location of the control buttons by the users. Furthermore, the specific area of each of the control buttons and the distances between the control buttons within each set are configured to reduce the possibility of hitting two keys with one fingertip at a time and promote significant tactile feedback even for a user with smaller fingers and shorter arm span.

Each set of the control buttons in the configuration performs duplicative functions of the other set, that is, the control buttons in one set of the control buttons perform same functions as the control buttons in the other set of control buttons. Thereby, the users can have an option to play the entire video game with either set of the control buttons. Because the users can play the video game with the set of control buttons that is disposed in the lower neck section of the guitar controller, the configuration of the present invention enables the users to play the rock music video games in the hard rocking style movement of a real guitar.

Furthermore, because the entire video game can be played with the set of control buttons that is disposed in the lower neck section of the guitar controller, when playing with that set of the control buttons, the users with small stature, or shorter arm span, need not over extend their arms to reach the control buttons. Therefore, the configuration of the control buttons in the present invention can remedy the disadvantage of the users of small stature in playing the rock music video game with the prior art guitar controllers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention and the objects and advantage thereof will become more obvious from the following description when taken in light with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a guitar controller with the control button configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of control buttons in a lower neck section of a guitar controller with the control button configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of a control button in a lower neck section of a guitar controller with the control button configuration of the present invention taken across line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of a small stature user utilizing the control buttons in the configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of a regular stature user utilizing the control buttons in the configuration of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a guitar controller 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the control button configuration. The guitar controller 10 is shaped similar to a guitar. To imitate the shape of a guitar, the guitar controller 10 generally includes a body 60, a neck 40, and a headstock 20. The guitar controller 10 may be formed from any suitable material, such as plastic. The means to construct the guitar controller 10 are not described herein, as such details are well known and are not considered a part of the present invention. The neck 40 is generally connected to the headstock 20 at a first end 22 and the body 60 at a second end 62. The neck 40 has a center 5, where the distance from the center 5 to the second end 62 is equal to the distance from the center 5 to the first end 22.

The control button configuration in the present invention includes one or more push buttons, or control buttons, in the neck 40 of the guitar controller 10. In the configuration, one set of control buttons, or upper buttons, 30 are disposed rectilinearly in the upper section of the neck 40 between the center 5 and the first end 22, and another set of control buttons, or lower buttons, 50 are disposed rectilinearly in the lower section of the neck 40 between the center 5 and the second end 62. In the control button configuration of the present invention, the upper buttons 30 and the lower buttons 50 have equal number of control buttons. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper buttons 30 have 5 control buttons, and accordingly, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the lower buttons 50 also have 5 control buttons.

Additionally, in the control button configuration of the present invention, the upper buttons 30 and the lower buttons 50 perform duplicate functions; in that, an upper left distal button 30 a performs the same function as a lower left distal button 50 a, an upper second button 30 b performs the same function as a lower second button 50 b, an upper third button 30 c performs the same function as a lower third button 50 c, an upper fourth button 30 d performs the same function as a lower fourth button 50 d, and an upper right distal button 30 e performs the same function as a lower right distal button 50 e. Therefore, in the configuration of the present invention, the users have an option to press either a control button in the upper buttons 30 or a corresponding control button in the lower buttons 50 to perform a same function.

The control buttons of the upper buttons 30 are disposed in equal distance from one another. The control buttons within the lower buttons 50 are also disposed in equal distance from one another. In the illustrated embodiment, the distance 36 between the centers of adjacent control buttons in the upper buttons 30 is approximately 2.6 cm, or 1.02 inches, and the distance 56 between the centers of adjacent control buttons in the lower buttons 50 is approximately 2.4 cm, or 0.94 inches. Thus, the control buttons of the lower buttons 50 in the configuration can be spaced closer to each other then the control buttons in the upper buttons 30 to provide suitable space for users of shorter finger length to press the control buttons in the lower buttons 50 without excessive movements of the wrist. The distance 56 in the control button configuration also reduces the possibility of the users hitting two keys with one fingertip at a time and thereby, allows the users' fingertip to touch only one button at a time.

In the illustrated embodiment, the distance 34 between the first end 22 and a center 32 of the upper left distal button 30 a, which is the control button closest to the first end 22, is approximately 1.27 cm, or 0.5 inches, and distance 54 between the second end 62 and a center of the lower right distal button 50 e, which is the control button closest to the second end 62, is approximately 2.27 cm, or 0.89 inches.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the lower buttons 50 according to the control button configuration of the present invention. Each control button of the lower buttons 50 has a protruding member 74 and a cap 72. In the illustrated embodiment, the length of the protruding member 74 is approximately 0.2 cm, or 0.09 inches. The protruding member 74 provides height that is necessary to enhance the tactile feedback when the user presses the control button, and therefore, the lower buttons 50 are constructed to produce a point contact sensation in a user's fingertip to provide tactile feedback when pressing the control button. Furthermore, for rapid locating of the control buttons by the users during the rock music video games, the cap 72 also has a specific area with a minimum radius 76 measured from the center of the control button. In the illustrated embodiment, each cap 72 has a minimum radius 76 not less than 0.3 cm, or not less than 0.12 inches, to accommodate the width of the users' fingertip. In conjunction with the distance 56 between the centers of adjacent control buttons in the lower buttons 50 as described in FIG. 1, the specific area with the minimum radius 76 is suited for the users' fingertips to rapidly and accurately locate the control buttons. Other shapes having different radius, or no minimum radii but not exceeding the specific area, such as square, rectangle, oval, or triangle, are acceptable alternatives to the circular convex cap.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the cap 72 comprises a window section 78, which preferably is illuminated using backlighting. As shown in FIG. 3, a light-emitting diode 70 can be disposed behind the cap 72 and aligned with the window 78. The means to install diode and electrical contacts for the control buttons are not described herein, as such details are well known and are not considered a part of the present invention. Each of the lower buttons 50 can use different color light-emitting diode 70 for providing visual feedback information to the users regarding the type and position of different control buttons in the configuration.

In the illustrated embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the distance 80 from the center 58 of the lower left distal button 50 a to the second end 62 is approximately 10.3 cm, or 4.06 inches, and accordingly, when playing the game with only the lower buttons 50, the users need not extend the arm for more than 10.3 cm, or 4.06 inches, to reach the farthest control button in order to play the game. The small stature users can choose to play the entire game with the lower buttons 50. Or, the small stature users can play the game with the upper buttons 30, but during certain advanced stages of the game where rapid pressing of different control buttons is required to win points, the small stature users can choose to play those stages of the game with only the lower buttons 50, and because the small stature users can press all the necessary control buttons for the game without over extending the arm, it enables the small stature users to play the game with the guitar controller without the size disadvantage. Therefore, the present invention eliminates the size disadvantage for the small stature users when playing with the guitar controllers and at the same time, eliminates the need for the manufacturers to produce and inventory different size guitar controllers in order to cater to the users of different stature.

As shown in FIG. 5, because the lower buttons 50 are closer to the body 60, it allows the regular stature users to press the control buttons with their arm folded and hence, their upper arm near, or in contact, with the user's chest area. Such playing style with only the lower frets in an electric guitar is often called “hard rocking,” or “jamming,” movement among the rock and roll guitar players. Thus a guitar controller with the present configuration enables the users to experience the sensation of playing the rock music video games with a real guitar such as, enabling the user to simulate the “hard rocking” movement.

Although there has been hereinabove described a control button configuration in accordance with the present invention, for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be used to its advantage, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations, or equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in art, should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers comprising: a neck connected to a headstock at a first end and a body at a second end, the neck having a center, wherein the center defining the neck into an upper section and a lower section, wherein the upper section and the lower section are equal in length; plurality of control buttons disposed rectilinearly in the upper section; and plurality of control buttons disposed rectilinearly in the lower section, wherein the control buttons of the upper section and the lower section are equal in number and perform duplicate functions.
 2. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 1, wherein the control buttons in the upper section are disposed in equal distance from one another.
 3. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 2, wherein the control buttons in the lower section are disposed in equal distance from one another.
 4. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 3, wherein each control buttons in the lower section has a minimum radius measured from the center of the control button.
 5. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 4, wherein each control buttons in the lower section comprise a protruding member.
 6. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 5, wherein the cap comprises of a window section.
 7. A control button configuration for guitar-shaped video game controllers according to claim 6, wherein the window section is illuminated using backlighting. 